Digitized picture display system with added control files

ABSTRACT

Digitized picture information representing different pictures is stored in respective picture files. Each picture file has both digital picture data and presentation control information including at least orientation information for that picture. Respective additional presentation control information for the different pictures is contained in a separate control file. An apparatus for reading the information, for display on a television set, allows selective use of the presentation control information recorded in the picture file or the corresponding control information in the separate control file.

This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 07/983,524, filed asPCT/NL91/00168, Sep. 13, 1991 published as WO92/05652, Apr. 2, 1992.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates, in general, to digitized picture dataprocessing systems and is particularly directed to a mechanism forcontrolling the manner in which digitized pictures are to be accessedfrom a digital database for presentation by a picture playback device.

Digital imaging systems, such as those employed for converting stillcolor photographic film (e.g., 35 mm) pictures into digital format forstorage in a digital database and subsequent playback, as by way of acolor television monitor, customarily encode the output of anopto-electronic film scanning device to some prescribed resolution andstore the encoded picture in an associated database as a respectivepicture file. When it is desired to display a particular stored picture,the contents of the respective addresses of the database in which thedigitized picture has been stored are read out and coupled to displaydriver circuitry for energizing corresponding pixels on the TV monitor.

Because each frame of a typical roll of 35 mm film has differenthorizontal and vertical frame dimensions, for example, a dimension of36mm in the horizontal direction, parallel to the lengthwise directionof the film, and a dimension of 24 mm in the vertical direction,orthogonal to the lengthwise direction of the film (ahorizontal:vertical aspect ratio of 3:2), a photographer often rotatesthe camera ninety degrees about the lens axis in order to capture asubject in what is conventionally referred to as a "vertical" condition.Since the digitizing mechanism that scans the film strip digitizes eachframe as though it contains a "horizontally shot" picture, then, when a"vertically shot" picture is displayed, it will be rotated unless therecording and playback system has been designed to accommodate verticalpictures.

2. Description of the Related Art

One conventional approach to handle the problem, similar to thatdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,198 to Ohta, is to rotate those filmframes which contain vertical pictures by ninety degrees beforescanning, and to fill in the left and right sides of the picture with auniform "border" color (e.g., black) . Although this scanning methodwill provide the proper orientation of the displayed picture, it suffersfrom two drawbacks. First, the actual scanning mechanism must bemodified to effect a rotated scan of the vertical pictures. This isconventionally accomplished by physically reorienting the film by ninetydegrees and changing the lens magnification of the scanning device by anamount related to the frame aspect ratio. Secondly, since side borders,which contain no useful information in terms of the captured picture,are also recorded, some of the information storage capacity of therecording medium is wasted. A second solution to the problem is torotate the display device, which is obviously impractical in manyapplications .

A third solution is to allow for different picture orientations to bestored, together with digital control data indicative of theorientations of the pictures, and to employ a picture playback devicedesigned to read the orientation control data to properly orient thepictures on playback. Some conventional computer picture file formats,for example, the Tag Picture File Format (TIFF), Revision 5.0, developedjointly by Aldus Corporation, Seattle, Wash., and Microsoft Corporation,Redmond, Wash., and described in "An Aldus/Microsoft TechnicalMemorandum", Aug. 8, 1988, include the provision for an optional "tag",which can be used to indicate the orientation of the picture. Page 25 ofthis document describes the TIFF "orientation tag", which can have eightdifferent values, indicating whether the zeroth row and zeroth column ofthe pixel data matrix represents the top and left, top and right, bottomand right, bottom and left, left and top, right and top, right andbottom, or left and bottom of the visual picture, respectively. However,the Aldus document further states that such a field is recommended forprivate (noninterchange) use only. The default condition, where thezeroth row represents the visual top of the picture, and the zerothcolumn of the pixel data matrix represents the visual left hand side ofthe picture, is recommended for all non-private applications, includingthose involving importing and printing. Thus, the TIFF orientation tagis never used to re-orient for display, pictures which have been storedin different orientations in a picture database.

In addition to the problem of different picture orientations, capturedpictures may have different aspect ratios. For example, dedicated-usepanoramic cameras, such as the Kodak Stretch (TM) camera, have an aspectratio of 3:1 which is considerably wider than the above-referenced 3:2aspect ratio of conventional 35 mm cameras. Other camera types, such asthose which employ 126-type film, also have aspect ratios other than3:2.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, advantage is taken of theinformation storage capability of the database in which the digitizedpictures are stored to incorporate an additional presentation controlfile for each stored picture. This presentation control file containsorientation and aspect ratio information, so that the picture playbackdevice will know how each picture has been stored on the database andwill therefore know how to access the stored picture so that it isplayed back in a proper upright condition.

More particularly, the present invention is directed to an improvedstorage and retrieval mechanism for a digital picture processing systemwherein a plurality of photographic pictures that have been captured ona photographic film strip are digitized for processing and subsequentdisplay. The film strip can be expected to include bothhorizontally-shot (whether upright or inverted) and vertically-shot (ineither a right or left hand rotation) pictures. Digitized pictures arestored on a digital data storage recording medium, such as a compactdisc, which is capable of being coupled to a picture playback device forreproduction of a digitized picture on a display such as a color TVmonitor.

Pursuant to the present invention, rather than cause a relative physicalrotation between film strip and the digitizing scanner, each picture onthe film strip is scanned and digitized as though it were horizontallyoriented, irrespective of its actual orientation on the film. Thedigitized picture is entered into a frame store and displayed on adisplay monitor of a system workstation, so that the picture may beviewed by the operator. Using a workstation input device (e.g., keyboardor mouse), the operator may then enter a set of "presentation" controlcodes that are incorporated within a presentation control fileassociated with a respective picture file. These presentation controlcodes preferably include a first digital code representative of theorientation in which the picture is currently displayed (correspondingto its orientation as digitized from the film strip) and a seconddigital code representative of its aspect ratio. Once all controlinformation relative to the picture has been defined, both the digitizedpicture and its presentation control file are written to a portablestorage medium, such as a write-once optical disc.

Subsequently, when the disc is inserted into a playback device fordriving an output display, such as a color TV monitor, the playbackdevice decodes the presentation control file information in the courseof reading out the digitized picture, and uses the presentation controlfile to control the playback device in such a way as to display thepicture in an upright orientation and at the correct aspect ratio forthe display. A border generator fills in non-accessed pixel addresses tocomplete the picture on the display. In addition to responding topresentation control file orientation and aspect ratio codes, theplayback apparatus may respond to user-generated control signals fordefining the limits of an auxiliary border to be injected onto thedisplayed picture, so that cropping of selected portions of a picturemay be controlled by the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1a, 1b and 1c show a picture-storage system, a picture retrievaland reproduction system, and a simplified picture retrieval andreproduction system, respectively;

FIG. 2 shows a suitable format for recording picture information on arecord carrier;

FIG. 3 illustrates a suitable method for digitizing the pictureinformation;

FIG. 4 illustrates a suitable residual coding to be used for indigitizing picture information;

FIG. 5 illustrates a suitable arrangement of the color information of apicture for a series of digitized pictures of increasing resolutions;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a picture processing function;

FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of a retrieval and reproduction systemcapable of displaying picture information in accordance with pictureparameter data;

FIG. 8 shows a suitable format for recording picture parameter data onthe record carrier;

FIG. 9 shows a suitable format for storing picture parameter data in anon-volatile memory;

FIG. 10 shows a mosaic picture composed of sixteen low-resolutionpictures;

FIG. 11 shows, in greater detail, an embodiment of the simplifiedpicture retrieval and reproduction system;

FIG. 12 shows, in greater detail, an embodiment of the picture storagesystem;

FIG. 13 shows a recording unit for use in the picture storage system;

FIG. 14 diagrammatically illustrates the CD-ROM XA format;

FIG. 15 shows a suitable organization of the record carrier if thepicture information has been recorded in accordance with a CD-I format;

FIG. 16 shows an example of a picture processing unit;

FIGS. 17 and 18 illustrate picture processing functions to be performedby the picture processing unit;

FIG. 19 shows an embodiment of a read device;

FIG. 20 diagrammatically illustrates the use of a sample rate converterin a simplified picture processing unit;

FIG. 21 diagrammatically illustrates a photographic color filmprocessing system in which the present invention may be employed;

FIG. 22 diagrammatically illustrates a portion of a film strip thatcontains a plurality of successive picture frames on each of which apicture of an arrow has been recorded;

FIG. 23 shows the format of a header file;

FIG. 24 diagrammatically illustrates the signal processing architectureof a picture retrieval mechanism in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 25 illustrates the overlay of a rectangular perimeter frame sizedto an NTSC TV monitor on a pixel array represented by the contents ofthe picture memory of FIG. 24 for a horizontal normal picture;

FIG. 26 illustrates a rotated rectangular perimeter frame overlayassociated with a decimated sub-array portion of data entries of thepicture memory of FIG. 24 on an NTSC pixel matrix, where the contents ofthe picture correspond to a 90° rotated picture that has been slightlyde-magnified;

FIG. 27 illustrates the manner in which entire horizontal dimension of astored 512×768 picture may be displayed on a 484×640 pixel matrix byperforming a five-sixths decimation of column and row addresses of anormal or inverted horizontal picture;

FIG. 28 illustrates the manner in which address decimation may beemployed to display the entire horizontal dimension of a panoramicpicture having a 3:1 aspect ratio; and

FIG. 29 shows a displayed picture having a user-generated auxiliaryborder.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1a shows a picture storage system 12 in which the invention can beused. The picture storage system 12 comprises a picture scanning unit 1for scanning pictures on a photographic picture capture medium 3, forexample, a 35 mm film strip. The picture scanning device 1 furthercomprises a picture digitizing unit for digitizing the pictureinformation obtained upon scanning. The digitizing picture informationis recorded on a database medium, e.g., a record carrier 184 by means ofa recording unit 5 under control of a control unit 4. Prior torecording, the control unit 4 can apply an optional picture processing,for example to enhance, correct or edit the picture representationdefined by the digitized picture information. For this purpose, thecontrol unit may comprise picture processing means which are known perse. The recording unit 5 may comprise, for example, an optical, amagnetic or a magneto-optical recording device. In view of the highstorage capacity of optical and magneto-optical record carriers it ispreferred to use an optical or a magneto-optical recording device. Thecontrol unit 4 may comprise a computer system, for example, a so-called"personal computer" or a so-called work station with suitable hardwareand application software.

FIG. 1b shows a picture retrieval and reproduction system for retrievingand displaying representations of digitized pictures stored on therecord carrier 184 by means of the picture storage system 12. Thepicture retrieval and reproduction system 13 comprises a read unit 6 forlocating and reading out selected digitized pictures under control of acontrol unit 7. Representations of digitized pictures thus read can bemade visible on a picture reproduction unit. Such a picture reproductionunit may comprise a display screen 8, which, for example, forms part ofthe control unit 7, or an electronic picture printer 9 for generating ahard copy 15 of a representation of the read-out digitized picture. Thepicture retrieval and reproduction system 13 may further comprise anadditional recording device 5a, by means of which the digitized pictureinformation, read by means of the read device 6, may be recorded on arecord carrier 184 after an optional picture processing operation isperformed by the control unit 7 for the purpose of enhancement,correction or editing. The control unit 7 in the picture retrieval andreproduction system 13 may comprise a computer system, for example, a"personal computer", or a work station with suitable hardware andapplication software. Although such a system is very suitable for thecontrol task to be performed and the optional picture processing, it hasthe drawback that it is comparatively expensive.

In general, it is desirable to have such an expensive computer systemfor the control unit in conjunction with the electronic picture printer9 because of the complexity of the control and picture processingfunctions. However, if it is merely desired to display selecteddigitized pictures on a display screen, the computing capacity andstorage capacity of a computer system in the form of a personal computeror work station are high in comparison with the control functions to beperformed. In that case, it is preferred to employ a simplified controlunit with a limited computing and storage capacity and a limited dataprocessing speed. The system as shown comprises a digitized pictureplayback device, which includes the read unit 6, and a pictureprocessing unit which converts the digitized picture read by the readunit 6 into a picture signal which is suitable for the reproduction unit(display screen 8 or printer 9). This picture processing unit may becomprised partly or completely into the read unit 6, the control unit 7or the picture reproduction units 8 or 9.

FIG. 1c shows a simplified picture retrieval and reproduction system 14.This simplified system 14 comprises a display unit 10 and a pictureretrieval and a digitized picture playback device 11 comprising the readunit 6. A control unit for controlling the retrieval and read operationand, if applicable, a limited picture processing can be accommodated inone of the units 10 and 11, but suitably in the unit 11. When thecontrol unit is accommodated in the retrieval and read unit 11 it ispossible to employ, amongst others, a standard TV set or monitor unitfor the picture display device.

This is an advantage, in particular for consumer uses because theconsumer then merely has to purchase the retrieval and read device todisplay the representations of the pictures.

As a result of their comparatively high cost, the picture storage system12 shown in FIG. 1a and the picture retrieval and reproduction system 13shown in FIG. 1b are particularly suitable for central uses, forexample, in photo processing laboratories or photo finishing mini-labs.

For recording digitizing picture information, it is preferred to recordthe information on the record carrier in a predetermined format andorder. FIG. 2 shows a suitable format and order, in which filescontaining coded picture information bear the references IP1, . . . IPn.Hereinafter, the files IP1, . . . , IPn will be referred to as picturefiles. Moreover, a plurality of control files BB have been recorded.These files contain, inter alia, read-out control data which is used forcontrolling the read-out of the digitized picture information andpicture parameter data, for the purpose of performing optional pictureprocessing operations on the picture information read and for thepurpose of displaying representations of the digitized pictureinformation. It is to be noted that the picture parameter data may beincluded in the picture files. The advantage of this is that therequired picture parameter data becomes available at the instant atwhich it is needed, i.e., at the instant at which the picture file isread.

Apart from the picture files IP1-IPn and the associated control filesBB, it may be desirable, in a number of cases, to record files withadditional information, for example, audio information or textinformation. Such audio and/or text information may relate to, forexample, digitized picture information and can then be reproduced ordisplayed when the representations of the relevant digitized pictureinformation are displayed. The files with additional information arereferenced ADD and may be recorded, for example, after the coded pictureinformation.

For every digitized picture stored, the picture files contain aplurality of subfiles which each define a representation of the samescanned picture, the resolutions of the representations defined by thesecoded pictures being different. In FIG. 2, the different subfiles forthe picture file IP1 bear the references TV/4, TV, 4TV, 16TV, 64TV,256TV. The subfile TV defines a representation of the scanned picturewith a resolution corresponding substantially to a standard NTSC or PALTV picture. Such a picture may comprise, for example, 512 lines of 768pixels each. The subfile TV/4 represents the scanned picture with aresolution which, in the horizontal and the vertical directions, hasbeen reduced linearly by a factor of 2 relative to the resolution of thepicture represented by the subfile TV. The subfiles 4TV, 16TV, 64TV and256 TV define picture representations whose horizontal and verticalresolution has been increased linearly by a factor of 2, 4, 8 and 16,respectively. Preferably, the subfiles are arranged in such a way thatthe resolutions of the representations defined by the successivedigitized pictures increase (linearly) in steps of 2. Duringreproduction, when the consecutive subfiles are generally readsuccessively, it is then simple to first display a representation of apicture of low resolution and, subsequently, to replace thisrepresentation wholly or partly by representations of the same pictureof each time increasing resolution. This has the advantage that thewaiting time before a picture representation appears on the displayscreen is minimized. Indeed, on account of the limited amount ofinformation needed for this, the read-out time of a digitized picturedefining a low-resolution representation is short in comparison with theread-out time of encoded pictures defining higher-resolutionrepresentations.

A generally known representation of pictures is that in which thepicture is composed of a matrix of small areas of constant luminancevalue and/or constant color value. In this representation, it iscustomary to select the areas of constant color value to be larger thanthe areas of constant luminance value.

An area of constant color value will be referred to hereinafter as acolor pixel and an area of constant luminance value will be referred tohereinafter as a luminance pixel. A row of color pixels of a width equalto the full picture width will be referred to hereinafter as a colorpicture line. A row of luminance pixels of a width equal to the fullpicture width will be referred to hereinafter as a luminance pictureline. A picture represented by luminance picture lines and color picturelines can be defined simply by a digitized picture by assigning to eachluminance pixel and color pixel, a digital code specifying the relevantluminance value and color values. These digital codes will be referredhereinafter as digitized pixels.

FIG. 3, by way of illustration, shows the structure of a picture ofcolor pixels and luminance pixels. The luminance pixels bear thereference signs (Y₂,1 ; . . . ; Y_(K-1),R-1). The color pixels bear thereference signs (C₁,1 ; . . . ; C_(K),R). It is to be noted that in FIG.3, as is customary, the dimensions of the color pixels in the horizontaland the vertical direction is twice as large as the dimensions of theluminance pixels. This means that the resolution of the colorinformation in the horizontal and the vertical direction is a factor oftwo lower than the resolution of the luminance information.

A suitable picture coding is that in which a digital code or digitalcodes is/are assigned to every luminance pixel and every color pixel,the code(s) defining the absolute value of the luminance component Y andthe absolute values of the color-difference components U and V,respectively. Such a coding will be referred to hereinafter as anabsolute picture coding. The digitized pictures achieved by absolutepicture coding will be referred hereinafter as absolutely codedpictures. Preferably, representations of a number of low-resolutionpictures are recorded as absolutely coded pictures. This enables thepicture information to be recovered in a simple manner. This isparticularly advantageous for the simplified picture retrieval andreproduction system 14, because this enables the price of such a system,which is intended for the consumer market, to be kept low by the use ofsimple picture decoding systems.

The use of a picture file with a number of absolutely coded pictures ofdifferent resolutions simplifies the reproduction of representations ofcomposite pictures, where a representation of a small low-resolutionpicture is displayed within the outline of a representation of ahigher-resolution picture. The reproduction of such a representation ofa composite picture is referred to as "Picture in Picture" ("PIP").Moreover, recording a plurality of absolutely coded pictures definingrepresentations of the same picture with different resolutionssimplifies the reproduction of enlarged representations of details of adigitized picture. Such a function is also referred to as theTELE-function (or ZOOM-function). The availability of absolutely codedpictures with different resolutions implies that for some of the TELEfunctions and PIP functions, the required picture information isdirectly available and need not be derived by means of additionalpicture processing operations to be performed by complex circuits.

In the recording of picture information, it is customary to record thedigitized pixels in rows (or lines) or sometimes in columns. Recordingin lines is to be preferred because in the customarily used picturedisplay units, the picture information should be presented in the formof lines.

For high resolutions, the storage of absolutely coded pictureinformation has the drawback that the amount of information to berecorded is very large. For such high-resolution pictures, a residualcoding is very suitable. In such a residual coding, differences betweenthe signal value of the pixels of the high-resolution picture and thesignal value of the corresponding part of the lower-resolution pictureare determined and subsequently encoded.

To illustrate this coding method, FIG. 4 shows one luminance pixel Y ofa low-resolution picture and four luminance pixels Y₁,1 '; Y₂,1 '; Y₁,2' and Y₂,2 ' of the corresponding higher-resolution picture in the casethat the horizontal and the vertical resolution is increased by a factorof 2. Instead of the absolute luminance value of the luminance pixelsY₁,1 ', . . . , Y₂,2 ', the residual coding encodes differences(hereinafter referred to as residual values) between the luminancevalues of the luminance pixels Y₁,1 ', . . . , Y₂,2 ' and the luminancepixel Y. In this way the residual values of a complete picture can bedetermined both for the luminance and for the color information. As thenumber of residual values equal to zero or being very small is large incomparison with the number of large residual values, a substantial datacompression can be obtained by applying an additional coding in whichthe residual values are non-linearly quantized and are subsequentlysubjected to, for example, a Huffman coding. A digitized pictureachieved by the above residual coding will be referred hereinafter asresidually coded picture.

A residually coded picture can be used as a basis for a new residualcoding for a picture with further increased resolutions. Thus, byrecording one absolutely coded low-resolution picture and a series ofresidually coded pictures of increasing resolutions in compressed formit is possible to record a plurality of digitized pictures definingrepresentations of the same picture with increasing resolutions. In thepicture file IP1 shown in FIG. 2 the pictures in the subfiles TV/4 andTV are absolutely coded and the pictures in the subfiles 4Tv, 16TV, 64TVand 256TV are residually coded, with non-linear quantization and Huffmancoding.

The color information is also coded residually in a way similar to theluminance information. However, the horizontal and the verticalresolution of the consecutive residually coded color informationincreases by a factor of four instead of by a factor of two as with theluminance information. This means that a picture file containing onlyresidually coded luminance information and no color information (4TV and64TV) alternates with a picture file containing both residually codedluminance information and residually coded color information (16TV and256TV), see FIG. 2. Leaving out the color information in the subfiles4TV and 64TV reduces the required storage capacity and the access timeto the coded picture information in the picture file. However, theabsence of the color information in the subfiles 4TV and 64TV need notadversely affect the picture quality during reproduction. This isbecause during the reproduction of a representation of a digitizedpicture for which no color information has been recorded, the colorinformation of the next coded picture defining a representation ofhigher resolution, or the color information of the preceding codedpicture defining a representation of lower resolution can be utilized.In order to reduce the total access time to the required pictureinformation, it is to be preferred to record the color information U, Vin the subfiles 16TV and 256TV contiguously to the luminance informationY in the subfiles 4TV and 64TV, as is illustrated for the file IP* inFIG. 2.

As already stated, it is customary to record the digitized pixels lineby line.

The stored digitized pictures generally define a number of pictures witha "horizontal" orientation or landscape format (i.e., for a faithfulreproduction, the picture should be displayed in an orientation in whichthe width of the picture is larger than the height of the picture) and anumber of pictures with "vertical" orientation or portrait format (i.e.,for a faithful reproduction, the picture should be displayed in anorientation in which the height of the picture is larger than the widthof the picture).

By way of illustration, FIG. 1 shows a picture capture medium 3 withsome pictures in landscape format (2a, 2b, 2c and 2d) and one picture inportrait format (2e). On the record carrier, all the digitized picturesare recorded as though they were representations of pictures inlandscape format. This is in order to enable a uniform picture scanningto be used without the necessity to detect whether the scanned pictureis of the landscape or portrait type and to change over the scanningand/or picture processing depending upon the detection result. However,this means that during reproduction, the representations of portraitformat pictures will be displayed with an incorrect orientation. Thiscan be precluded by providing a possibility to assign a orientation codeto the recorded coded pictures, which code indicates the orientation ofthe scanned picture. This code can be used to determine whether therepresentation should be rotated during reproduction and, if this is thecase, whether the representation should be rotated through an angle of90, 180 or 270 degrees. This orientation code can be included in everypicture file IP1, . . . , IPn. It is also possible to record theseorientation codes in the control file BB or to store these orientationcodes in a non-volatile memory arranged in the read unit or connected tothis unit.

During reproduction, it is then possible to determine, on the basis ofthe orientation code, whether the representation to be displayed shouldbe rotated and, if this is the case, a rotation through the desiredangle can be performed prior to reproduction. A drawback of includingthe orientation codes in the picture files IP is that these rotationcodes have to be determined already during scanning of the pictures. Inpractice, this means that an operator of the picture storage systemshould determine for each scanned picture whether the stored picture isto be rotated during reproduction, because the known auxiliary devicesare not always capable of detecting whether a scanned picture is oflandscape or portrait format and whether the picture is presented to thescanning unit with the correct orientation. This is undesirable inparticular because it implies that an operator must be present duringrecording, which makes it difficult to realize a fully automated picturestorage system 12.

If the orientation codes are already available during recording of thedigitized picture information, it will be advantageous to record thesecodes on the record carrier. In the case of the file organization shownin FIG. 2, a suitable position for recording the rotation codes is thesubfile FPS of the control file BB. For reasons of user convenience, itis desirable to specify, apart from the required rotation, whetherinstead of a representation of stored coded pictures, a representationwhich is slightly shifted (to the left, right, top or bottom) should bedisplayed. This is certainly desirable if the display area, within whichthe representation is to be displayed in a display unit, is smaller thanthe dimensions of the representations, because it is possible that animportant detail of the picture falls outside the display area. Thedesired shift can be specified by assigning a translation code to everydigitized picture. In FIG. 6, a suitable translation coding for apicture 90 is defined by means of the coordinates Xp and Yp of a vertex91 of a portion of the picture 90 to be displayed after translation. Bymeans of a translation code and a magnification code, it is possible tospecify the magnification factor with which a certain part of theoriginal picture is to be displayed. The reference numeral 93 indicatesan enlarged representation of a part of the picture 90, defined by atranslation Xp, Yp and a magnification factor of 2. In addition to theabove data, it is also possible to include other picture parameter datain the subfile FPS of the control file BB, such as, for example,parameters specifying a color or luminance adaptation and other pictureprocessing operations to be applied before a representation of the codedpicture is displayed. Moreover, it is advantageous to store the desiredsequence in which the pictures must be reproduced in the subfile FPSwithin the control file BB.

A collection of picture parameter data defining the preferred sequenceas well as all the desired picture parameter data for all the codedpictures on a record carrier will be referred to hereinafter as a set ofpicture parameter data. It may be advantageous to record more than oneset of picture parameters data in the file FPS. This enables a differentdisplay sequence and other picture processing operations to be selectedby different persons, for example, persons within a family. It alsoallows a user to make a choice from different sets of picture parameterdata. It is to be noted that when a record carrier of the write-oncetype is used, the sets of picture parameter data can be recorded on therecord carrier only if they are available during recording. Thisrequires human intervention during recording. During reading of therecord carrier, a set of picture parameter data is selected and therepresentations of the coded pictures can be displayed in conformitywith the selected set of picture parameter data. FIG. 7 is a blockdiagram of an embodiment of a picture retrieval and display system bymeans of which representations of coded pictures can be displayed inconformity with a selected set of picture parameter data. In thisdiagram, the reference numeral 100 refers to a read unit for reading therecord carrier. For the purpose of applying the information being read,the read unit 100 is coupled to a control and signal processing unit101. From the information received from the read device 100, the unit101 selects the file FPS containing the set(s) of picture parameter dataand stores this (these) set(s) in a control memory 102. By means of adata entry unit 103, for example, a remote control device, a user canselect a set from the control memory 102 and can subsequently activatethe unit 101 to start the read cycle, in which the digitized pictureinformation is read in the sequence specified by the selected set ofpicture parameter data under control of the unit 101. After thedigitized picture information has been read out, this information isprocessed in accordance with the selected set of picture parameter dataand is applied to a display unit 104.

It may occur that after some time, the picture parameter data stored onthe record carrier are no longer entirely in compliance with the user'swishes, or that no or incorrect picture parameter data have beenrecorded on the record carrier. This is problematic in particular if therecord carrier is of a type which cannot be overwritten, because therecorded picture parameter data then cannot be adapted. This problem canbe mitigated by providing the retrieval and display system in FIG. 7with a digital database medium, e.g., a non-volatile memory 105, inwhich, together with a record carrier identification code, a new set ofpicture parameter data or information about the desired changes of thepicture parameter data relative to the set of picture parameter datarecorded on the record carrier is stored for the record carrierspecified by means of the record carrier identification code. In view ofthe limited storage capacity of the non-volatile memory 105, it isdesirable to record the information necessary for the picture parameterdata in a most compact form, for which reason it is preferred to recordthe information about the changes of the picture parameter data.

FIG. 8 shows, by way of example, a suitable format 110 of the pictureparameter data included in the file FPS on the record carrier. Theformat 110 comprises a section DID in which the unique record carrieridentification code is stored. Such a code may comprise a large randomnumber generated by means of a random-number generator and recorded onthe record carrier. The code may comprise a time code indicating thetime in years, months, days, hours, minutes, seconds and fractions ofseconds. Alternatively, the record carrier identification code maycomprise a combination of a time code and a random number. In the format110, the section DID is followed by sections FPS1, FPS2, . . . , FPSn inwhich a number of different sets of picture parameter data are stored.Each of the preferential reproduction setting sections FPS1, . . . ,FPSn contains a portion SEL in which a set identification number foreach of the different sets of picture parameter data to be selected bydifferent users are specified, and a portion specifying the sequence SEQin which the representations of the stored pictures are to bereproduced. This portion is followed by the coded sections FIM#1, . . ., FIM#n storing, for the pictures 1, . . . , n, the picture parameterdata indicating preferential processing operations to be performedbefore the representation of the relevant picture are displayed.

FIG. 9 shows, by way of example, a suitable format 120 in which theinformation about the desired adaptations of the set of pictureparameter data can be stored in the non-volatile memory 105. The format120 comprises a section 121 specifying combinations of record carrieridentifications and set identification numbers for which informationabout picture parameter data has been stored. To each of thesecombinations, a pointer is assigned, which pointer is included in thesection DID-POINT and specifies the address of the sections DFPS1, . . ., DFPSn in the non-volatile memory 105.

Every section DFPS comprises a portion LSEQ with a code indicating thespace (for example in numbers of bytes) required to specify the newsequence. If the portion LSEQ indicates a length not equal to zero LSEQwill be followed by a portion NSEQ with the data specifying the newdisplay sequence. After NSEQ, the new preferential processing operationsare specified for every picture with modified preferential processingoperations. ROT indicates the section with the orientation code. Thesections LTELE and LPAN specify the length available for the storage ofthe new data relating to picture magnification (in a section NTELE) andpicture translation (in a section NPAN). In this way, it is possible toselect the accuracy with which the picture processing information is tobe stored. Thus, it is possible, for example, to define three differentlengths indicating three different accuracies. LTELE and LPAN arefollowed by the portions NTELE and NPAN. If the information about thepicture magnification and picture translation need not be changed, thisis indicated by the length zero in LTELE and LPAN. By storing only thepreferential processing operations for pictures with modifiedpreferential processing operations, the space required for the storageof the new picture parameter data is reduced considerably. Apart fromthe reduction of the required storage space by said recording of thedifferences, it is possible to obtain an additional reduction byspecifying the length required for the storage of modified data. Whenthe record carrier is read an adapted set of picture parameter data isderived from the picture parameter data recorded on the record carrierand the differences stored in the memory 105, and this adapted set isstored in the memory 102.

Instead of, or in addition to, the fixed non-volatile memory 105, achangeable memory 106, for example, in the form of a magnetic card,EPROM, EEPROM or NVRAM, can be employed for the storage of pictureparameter data in the retrieval and display system shown in FIG. 7.

This has the advantage that a user can display the picture informationon a record carrier in accordance with the same picture parameter dataon different picture retrieval and display systems to which a changeablememory 106 can be connected. When one of the two or both memories 105and 106 are used for the storage of picture parameter data, it isdesirable that a selection is made from the different sets of pictureparameter data defined by the sets of picture parameter data on therecord carrier and by the modifications of the picture parameter datastored in the memories 105 and 106. For this purpose, the unit 101should comprise selection means. These selection means may be of a typewhich are operated by the user to make a choice from the various sets ofpicture parameter data defined for one specific record carrier andselection number by the picture parameter data information stored on therecord carrier and in the memories 105 and 106. However, alternatively,these selection means may be of a type which, prior to reproduction onthe basis of the contents of the memories 105 and 106 and the sets ofpicture parameter data recorded on the record carrier, determine thesets of picture parameter data available for the relevant recordcarriers and store them, for example, in the memory 102. Subsequently,one of the available sets of picture parameter data in the memory 102 isselected in accordance with a predetermined selection criterion.Preferably, the selection criterion is such that the highest priority isassigned to the picture parameter data information in the changeablememory 106, medium priority to the picture parameter data information inthe non-volatile memory, and the lowest priority to the pictureparameter data on the record carrier. If the unit 101 comprises acomputer, automatic selection can be realized by loading the computerwith a suitable selection program.

Now reference is made to the file OV in FIG. 2, which, for all thepicture files IP1, IPn, comprises a subfile TV/16 containing anabsolutely coded low-resolution picture. Recording a file OV has theadvantage that an overview of the digitized picture information recordedon the record carrier can be obtained with a minimal access time. Thisis possible, for example, by successively displaying the digitizedpictures in the subfile TV/16 as representations which wholly or partlyfill the display screen, preferably in the sequence defined by theselected set of picture parameter data. However, it is also possible tocompose a representation in the form of a so-called mosaic picture fromthe subfiles, in which mosaic picture, a large number of representationsof the coded low-resolution pictures contained in the subfiles TV/16 arearranged in the form of a matrix, preferably in an order dictated by theselected set of picture parameter data. By way of illustration, FIG. 10shows a mosaic picture 130 made up of the representations (IM#1, IM#3, .. . , IM#26) of sixteen low resolution subfile pictures.

FIG. 11 shows an embodiment of the picture retrieval and display systemof FIG. 1c in more detail. In the present system, the picture retrievaland read unit 11 comprises the read unit 6, a control unit 140 and apicture processing unit 141. The read unit 6 supplies the informationread from the record carrier to the control unit 140 and to the pictureprocessing unit 141 via a signal path 142. The control unit 140 thenselects specific information contained in the control files BB and IIDBfrom the information read. The picture processing unit 141 selectspicture information from the information read and converts this pictureinformation into a form suitable for the display unit 10. The read unit6 and the picture processing unit 141 are controlled by the control unit140 on the basis of the data entered by a user, for example, via a dataentry unit 143, and on the basis of the control data in the controlfiles BB and IIDB.

FIG. 12 shows an embodiment of the picture storage system 12 in greaterdetail. The scanning unit 1 in FIG. 12 comprises a scanning element 170for scanning the photographic picture capture medium 3 and forconverting the scanned picture information into customary informationsignals, for example, RGB picture signals, representing the scannedpicture. The picture signals at the output of the scanning elementdefine the highest attainable resolution in number of pixels perpicture. The information signals supplied by the scanning element 170are converted into a luminance signal Y and two color-difference signalsU and V by means of a customary matrix circuit 171. A coding circuit 172converts the signals Y, U and V, in a customary manner, into absolutelycoded signals (for the lower-resolution pictures) and residually codedsignals (for the higher-resolution pictures) in accordance with thecoding schemes described hereinbefore. The scanning element 170, thematrix circuit 171 and the coding circuit 172 are controlled by means ofa customary control circuit 174 on the basis of control commands appliedto the control circuit 174 by the control unit 4 via an interfacecircuit 175. The absolutely and residually coded picture informationgenerated by the coding circuit 172 is applied to the control unit 4 viathe interface circuit 175. The control unit 4 may comprise a computersystem comprising a display unit 176, a computing and storage unit 177and a data entry unit 178, for example, a keyboard, for data input bythe user. In a customary manner, the display unit 176 and the data entryunit 178 are coupled to the computing and storage unit 177. Thecomputing and storage unit 177 is further coupled to the picturescanning unit 1 and the recording unit 5 via interface circuits 179 and180, respectively. The recording unit 5 comprises a formatting andcoding unit 181 which converts the information to be recorded, thisinformation being received from the control unit 4 via an interfacecircuit 182, into codes which are suitable for recording and which arearranged in a format suitable for recording. The data which has thusbeen coded and formatted is applied to a write head 183, which records acorresponding information pattern on the record carrier 184. Therecording process is controlled by a control circuit 185 on the basis ofthe control commands received from the control unit 4 and, ifapplicable, address information indicating the position of the writehead 183 relative to the record carrier 184.

The storage and control unit 177 is loaded with suitable software toarrange the residually coded digitized picture information supplied bythe scanning unit 1 in a customary manner in accordance with theafore-mentioned formatting rules and to compose the picture files IP andOV. Moreover, the computing and storage unit 177 has been loaded withsoftware for inserting in the control file, in a customary manner, andin accordance with the afore-mentioned formatting rules, the pictureparameter data input by an operator together with other automaticallygenerated control data, such as, for example, a list of addresses atwhich the various files have been recorded on the record carrier 184.

The computing and storage unit 177 may further have picture processingsoftware enabling the scanned picture information to be processed, forexample, for the purpose of error correction, such as, for example,out-of-focus correction and grain removal, or for the purpose of coloradaptation or brightness adaptation of the picture.

The files, composed by means of the computing and storage unit 177, areapplied to the recording unit 5 in the desired sequence in order to berecorded.

Very suitable combinations of a record carrier 184 and a recording unit5 have been described in detail inter alia in European PatentApplication Nos. 88203019.0, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,035(PHQ 88.001), 90201309.3, corresponding to U.S. patent application Ser.No. 08/427,781, filed Mar. 2, 1994 (PHQ 89.016), 8900092.8,corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,300 (PHN 12.398), 8802233.8,corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,168 (PHN 12.299), 8901206.3,corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,219 (PHN 12.571), 90201094.1,corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,418,764 (PHN 12.925), 90201582.5,corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,217 (PHN 12.994), 90200687.3,corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,124,966 (PHN 13.148), 90201579.1,corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,027 (PHN 13.243), and Dutch PatentApplication Nos. 8902358, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,428,598 (PHN13.088) and 9000327, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,435 (PHN13.242). The record carrier described therein is eminently suited forrecording information in accordance with a CD format. A recording devicefor recording the files on such record carrier is shown diagrammaticallyin FIG. 13. The shown recording device comprises a formatting circuit186, which composes the information to be recorded, which has beenapplied via the interface circuit 182, in accordance with a formattingscheme , for example, as is customary in the so-called CD-ROM or CD-ROMXA system.

By way of illustration, this format is shown broadly in FIG. 14. Inaccordance with this format, the data is arranged in blocks BLCK of alength corresponding to the length of a subcode frame in the CD signal.Each block BLCK comprises a block synchronizing section SYNC, a headersection HEAD containing an address in the form of an absolute time codecorresponding to the absolute time code in the subcode portion recordedwith the block, and if the CD-ROM XA format is used, the block BLCKfurther comprises a subheader section SUBHEAD containing, inter alia, afile number and a channel number. In addition, each block BLCK comprisesa DATA section containing the information to be recorded. Each blockBLCK may also comprise a section EDC&ECC containing redundantinformation for the purpose of error detection and error corrections.The recording unit 5 shown in FIG. 13 further comprises a CIRC codingcircuit 187 for interleaving the information and for adding parity codesfor the purpose of error detection and error correction (hereinafteralso referred to as error correction codes). The CIRC encoding circuit187 performs the above-mentioned operations upon the formattedinformation supplied by the formatting circuit 186. After theseoperations have been performed, the information is applied to an EFMmodulator 188, in which the information is given a form which lendsitself better for recording on the record carrier. Moreover, the EFMmodulator 188 adds subcode information, which includes, inter alia, anabsolute time code as address information in the so-called subcode Qchannel.

FIG. 15 shows an organization of the record carrier in the case that theinformation has been recorded in the track 20 in accordance with the CDformat described above. Parts corresponding to the organization shown inFIG. 2 bear the same reference numerals.

The recorded information is preceded by a lead-in section LI (alsoreferred to lead-in track), as is customary in the recording of CDsignals, and is terminated with a customary lead-out section LO (alsoreferred to as lead-out track).

When the information is recorded in CD format, it is preferred toinclude, in the control file BB, a section recorded in accordance withthe CD-I standard. These sections are the "Disk Label & Directory",referenced DL, and the so-called application programs, referenced AF.This enables the recorded picture information to be displayed by meansof a standard CD-I system. Preferably, a subfile FPS with the sets ofpicture parameter data is also included in the application programsection AF. In addition to the sections DL and AT, the control file BBcomprises a subfile IT comprising a section CNTR with control data and asection FPS with the sets of picture parameter data. Preferably, thesection IT is recorded in a predetermined area, also known as the"pregap" on the record carrier in a section of predetermined length.This is in order to simplify retrieval of the required information bythe microcomputer. Further recording in the pregap has the advantagethat the format meets the CD-I format requirements. If the section IT isnot large enough to accommodate all the control data, a part of thecontrol data can be recorded in a section ITC after the file OV. In thatcase, it is preferred to include a pointer in the section IT to specifythe starting address of ITC.

FIG. 16 shows the picture processing unit 141 in greater detail. Thepicture processing unit 141 comprises a first detection circuit 250 fordetecting synchronization codes LD and picture line numbers LNindicating the beginning of each residually coded picture line. A seconddetection circuit 251 serves for detecting the beginning of each subfilein each picture file with a residually coded picture to indicate thebeginning of the section IIDB containing the addresses of a number ofdigitizing picture lines. It is to be noted that the detection circuits250 and 251 are needed only for processing the residually coded picturesand not for processing absolutely coded pictures. For the purpose ofthese detections, inputs of the first and the second detection circuit250 and 251 are connected to the signal path 142. A decoding circuit252, for decoding the residually coded picture information, and acontrol circuit 253, for controlling the picture processing operation,are connected to the signal path 142. The signal path 142 and outputs ofthe decoding circuit 252 are connected to data inputs of a picturememory 255 via a multiplex circuit 254, to store the read and decodedpicture information. Data outputs of the picture memory 255 areconnected to the inputs of the decoding circuit 252 and to the inputs ofthe multiplex circuit 254. The control circuit 253 comprises an addressgenerator 256 for addressing the memory locations in the picture memory255. The picture processing unit 141 further comprises a second addressgenerator 257 for addressing the memory locations in order to output thecontent of the picture memory to a signal converter 258. The signalconverter 258 is of a customary type which converts the pictureinformation read from the picture memory 255 into a form suitable forapplication to the picture display unit 10. The decoding circuit 252 maycomprise, for example, a Huffman decoding circuit 261a, controlled bythe control unit 253, and an adder circuit 259. The Huffman decodingcircuit 261a decodes the information received via the signal path 142and subsequently supplies this decoded information to one of the inputsof the adder circuit 259. Another input of the adder circuit 259 isconnected to the data outputs of the picture memory 255. The result ofthe adding operation performed by the adder circuit 259 is applied tothe multiplex circuit 254. The control circuit 253 is coupled to thecontrol unit 140 via a control signal path 260. The control circuit 253may comprise, for example, a programmable control and computing unit.Such a control and computing unit may comprise, for example, a dedicatedhardware unit or a microprocessor system loaded with suitable controlsoftware, by means of which, on the basis of control commands receivedvia the control signal path 260, the address generator 256 and themultiplex circuit 254 are controlled in such a way that a selectedportion of the picture information applied via the signal path 142 isloaded into the picture memory. The information thus stored in thepicture memory 255 is read with the aid of an address generator 257 andis subsequently applied to the display unit 10 via the signal converter258 in order to be displayed.

In FIG. 17, the reference numerals 261, 262, 263 denote picturerepresentations of the same picture but with different resolutions. Therepresentation 261 comprises 256 picture lines of 384 pixels each. Therepresentation 262 comprises 512 picture lines of 768 pixels each andthe representation 263 comprises 1024 picture lines of 1536 pixels each.The digitized pictures corresponding to the representations 261, 262 and263 are included in consecutive subfiles TV/4, TV and 4TV of a picturefile IP. The capacity of the picture memory 255, shown in FIG. 17, is512 rows of at least 768 memory locations (also called memory elements).If a representation should represent the entire coded picture, thatsubfile is selected from the picture file IP, whose number of pixelscorresponds to the capacity of the picture memory, which, in the presentcase, is the subfile defining the representation 262. This selection canbe made on the basis of the setting data, such as picture numbers andresolution order (this is the identification of the subfile resolution),which are stored at the beginning of each subfile in, for example, theheader HEAD and the subheader SUBHEAD of the blocks BLCK. For eachsubfile, this data is read in by the control circuit 253 in response toa signal supplied by a block synchronization detector 262a upondetection of the beginning of each block BLCK.

In the case that a representation of an absolutely coded picture is tobe reproduced, upon detection of the beginning of the subfile to beselected, the control circuit sets the multiplex circuit 254 to a statein which the signal path 142 is connected to the data inputs of thepicture memory 255. Moreover, the address generator 256 is set to astate in which the memory locations are addressed in synchronism withthe reception of the successive pixel information, in such a way thatthe information for the picture lines 11, . . . , 1512 is stored in therespective rows r1, . . . , r512 of the memory 255. The pictureinformation thus loaded into the memory 255 is read out and is convertedinto a form suitable for the display unit 10 by means of the signalconverter 258. The read-out sequence is determined by the sequence inwhich the address generator 257 generates the successive addresses.During normal reproduction, this sequence is such that the memory isread in a row-by-row fashion, starting with the row r1 and starting withcolumn c1 within a row. This is possible both in accordance with theinterlaced-scan principle and the progressive-scan principle. In thecase of read-out according to the interlaced-scan principle, all the oddrows of the picture memory 255 are read first and subsequently all theeven rows of the picture memory 255 are read. In the case of read-out inaccordance with the progressive-scan principle, all the rows are read insequence.

A very attractive alternative for the method of storing the pictureinformation in the picture memory 255 is that in which the picturememory 255 is first filled with picture information from a picture filedefining a lower-resolution representation of a picture, andsubsequently, the content of the memory is overwritten with a codedpicture defining a higher-resolution representation of the same picture.In the above example, this is possible in that during read-out of eachcoded pixel from the subfile TV/4 each of a group of 2×2 memory elementsis each time filled with the signal value defined by this coded pixel.This method is known as the "spatial replica" method. A better picturequality is obtained by filling only one of the memory elements of the2×2 matrix with the signal value defined by a read-out pixel, and byderiving the other pixels of the 2×2 matrix from adjacent pixels bymeans of known interpolation techniques. This method is known as the"spatial interpolation" method. After detection of the next subfile (inthe present case, TV), the content of the picture memory is each timeoverwritten with the picture information of this subfile in the methodsdescribed above. The amount of information in the subfile TV/4 is only aquarter of that in the subfile TV. This results in a substantialreduction of the time after which a first provisional picture isdisplayed on the display unit. After read-out of the picture file TV/4,this low-resolution picture is overwritten with a representation of thesame picture having the desired resolution. As the picture files withcoded pictures of successive resolutions succeed one another directly,no time is lost in searching for the subfile TV after read-out of thesubfile TV/4.

In the case that a picture is to be rotated, the address generator 256is set to a state in which the sequence of addressing the memorylocations is adapted in accordance with the desired rotation angle.FIGS. 18b, 18c and 18d illustrate how the picture information is storedin the memory for a rotation through an angle of 270, 180 and 90degrees, respectively. For the sake of clarity, these Figures only showthe positions of the information of the first two picture lines 11 and12 of the picture.

In the case that a representation of a small picture is to be displayedwithin the outline of a full-scan representation of another picture or,if desired, the same picture (PIP function), this can be achieved simplyby filling the desired location of the picture memory 255 with thelow-resolution picture of the subfile TV/4 without magnification. Whenthe picture memory 255 is filled, the address generator 256 is then setto a state in which the information for memory locations is addressed inwhich the small picture is to be stored. To illustrate this, thesememory locations are represented as a frame 264 in FIG. 17. During thepicture processing described above, the presence of the low-resolutionpicture in the subfile TV/4 again has the advantage that the pictureinformation required to perform this function is directly available inthe picture file IP, so that additional processing is not necessary.

When an enlarged representation of a part of the absolutely digitizedpicture is to be displayed, the information of a part of the picture,for example, the part corresponding to a frame 265, is selected. Theinformation of each pixel of the selected part is loaded into everymemory location of a group of 2×2 memory locations, so that a magnifiedfull-scan representation of low resolution is displayed on the displayunit. Instead of repeating each pixel 2×2 times in the memory, thememory may be filled in accordance with the spatial-interpolationprinciple mentioned in the foregoing.

In order to magnify the residually coded pictures, the above step isperformed first. Subsequently, the part represented by the frame 266 isselected in the subfile 4TV. The part in the frame 266 corresponds tothe part within the frame 265 in the representation 262. The controlcircuit 253 sets the multiplex circuit 254 to a state in which theoutput of the residual decoding circuit 252 is connected to the datainputs of the memory 255. The address generator 256 is set to a state inwhich it addresses the picture memory 255 in synchronism with thereceived coded pixels in the sequence in which the residually codeddigitized picture information from the subfile 4TV becomes available.The picture information in the addressed memory locations is applied tothe decoding circuit 252 and, by means of the adder circuit 259, it isadded to the residual value, after which the information thus adapted isloaded into the addressed memory location. The part of the pictureinformation recorded on the record carrier corresponding to the frame266 is preferably read on the basis of the information in the controlfile IIDB. The information in the section IIDB is read in by the controlcircuit 253 in response to a signal from the detector 250. Subsequently,the address of that digitized picture line is selected from thisinformation which is situated shortly before the first digitized pictureline corresponding to the picture line in the frame 266. After this, thecontrol circuit supplies a command to the control unit 140 via thecontrol signal path 260, the control unit, in response to this command,initiating a search process in which the part with the selecteddigitized picture line is located. When this part is found, the read-outof the picture information is started and the adaptation of the contentof the memory 255 is started as soon as the part of the first digitizedpicture line, which corresponds to the part of the picture within theframe 266, is reached. The detection of this digitized picture line iseffected on the basis of the line numbers which, together with the linesynchronization codes LD, have been inserted at the beginning of eachdigitized picture line. The control circuit reads in these line numbersLN in response to a signal from the detector circuit 251. The storage ofthe address information at the beginning of the subfile 4TV enables arapid access to the desired information to be obtained. The detection ofthe read-out of the desired residually digitized picture lines issimplified by the presence of the line synchronization codes and linenumbers in the subfile 4TV.

FIG. 19 shows an embodiment of the read unit 6 by means of which it ispossible to read out the coded picture information recorded on therecord carrier by means of the recording unit shown in FIG. 13. Theshown read unit 6 comprises a customary read head 280 which reads theinformation patterns on the record carrier 184 by scanning the track 20and converts the resulting information into corresponding signals. Theread unit further comprises a customary positioning unit 284 for movingthe read head 280 in a direction transverse to the tracks to a portionof the track 20 specified by a selected address. The movement of theread head 280 is controlled by a control unit 285. The signals convertedby the read head 280 are decoded by an EFM decoding circuit 281 and aresubsequently applied to a CIRC decoding circuit 282. The CIRC decodingcircuit 282 is of a customary type, which restores the originalstructure of the information which has been interleaved prior torecording, and which detects and, if possible, corrects incorrectly readcodes. Upon detection of incorrigible errors, the CIRC decoding unitsupplies a new error flag signal. The information which has beenrestored and corrected by the CIRC decoding circuit 282 is applied to adeformatting circuit 283 which removes the additional information addedby the formatting circuit 186 prior to recording. The EFM demodulatingcircuit 281, the CIRC decoding circuit 282, and the deformatting circuit283 are controlled, in a customary manner, by the control unit 285. Theinformation supplied by the deformatting circuit 283 is applied via aninterface circuit 286. The deformatting circuit may comprise an errorcorrection circuit by means of which errors which cannot be corrected bythe CIRC decoding circuit can be detected and corrected. This iseffected by means of redundant information EDC & ECC added by theformatting circuit 166. The error correction circuit, which iscomparatively complex and therefore comparatively expensive, is notnecessary. This is because the effects of erroneously read codes in theabsolutely coded picture information can be masked simply by replacingthe incorrectly read coded pixels and/or a complete coded picture lineby picture information derived from one or more adjacent coded pixels oradjacent coded picture lines. Such a correction can be effected simplyby means of the signal processing unit 141 shown in FIG. 16, byprogramming the control circuit 253 so as to be responsive to the errorflag signal, supplied by the CIRC decoding circuit 282, to control theaddress generator 256 in such a way that the information of an adjacentpixel is read and, at the same time, the multiplex circuit 254 is set toa state in which the data outputs of the picture memory 255 areconnected to the data inputs. Subsequently, the address generator isreset to its previous state and, instead of the incorrectly read codedpixel, the information read from the picture memory 255 is stored at theaddressed memory location.

In the case that a residually coded picture is read, the value in thememory 255 is not adapted upon detection of an incorrectly read residualvalue but remains unchanged. This can be achieved, for example, bycausing the control circuit to generate a signal which inhibits writinginto the memory 255 when the erroneous residual value is applied.

The capacity of the picture memory 255 is large, so that the cost priceof such a memory is comparatively high. The memory capacity may bereduced by arranging between the multiplexer 254 and the picture memory255, a sample rate converter 290 of a customary type, which reduces thenumber of pixels per line from 786 to 512.

FIG. 21 diagrammatically illustrates a photographic color filmprocessing system in which the present invention may be employed.However, it is to be noted that the application of the invention is notlimited to this system, but may be incorporated in any digitized pictureprocessing system.

In accordance with the digital picture processing system of FIG. 21,photographic pictures, such as a set of twenty-four or thirty-six 36mm×24 mm picture frames of a 35 mm film strip 410, are scanned by a highresolution opto-electronic film scanner 412, such as a commerciallyavailable Eikonix Model 1435 scanner. Scanner 412 outputs digitallyencoded data (e.g., a 3072×2048 pixel matrix) representative of theinternal electronic scanning of a high resolution picture sensing arrayonto which a respective photographic picture frame of film strip 410 isprojected. This digitally encoded data, or "digitized" picture, iscoupled in the form of an imaging pixel array-representative bit map toan attendant picture processing workstation 414, which contains a framestore and picture processing application software through which thedigitized picture may be processed (e.g., enlarged, rotated, cropped,subjected to scene balance correction, etc.) to achieve a desiredpicture appearance. Once a picture file has been prepared, it is storedon a transportable medium, such as a write-once optical compact disc,using an optical compact disc recorder 416, for subsequent playback by adisc player 417, which allows the picture to be displayed, for example,on a relatively moderate resolution consumer television set 418 (e.g.,having an NTSC display containing and array of 485 lines by 640 pixelsper line), or printed as a finished color print, using a high resolutionthermal color printer 419.

As described hereinbefore in this application, each high resolutioncaptured picture is stored as a respective picture file containingsub-files with a low, or base, resolution absolute coded picture bit TV,an absolute coded picture 4TV and a plurality of higher resolutionresidual coded pictures 16TV, 64TV and 256TV associated withrespectively increasing degrees of picture resolution. By iterativelycombining the higher resolution residual picture file data with the baseresolution bit map picture, successively increased resolution picturesmay be recovered from the base resolution absolute coded picture forapplication to a reproduction device, such as a color monitor display orhard copy printer.

The digitized pictures TV, 4TV, 16TV, 64TV and 256TV may be obtained byscanning a 36 mm×24 mm picture frame of 35 mm film strip 410. The baseresolution absolute coded picture may be further subsampled in aworkstation of the photo-finishing mini-lab system to derive an evenlower resolution absolute code picture TV/4 (e.g., on the order of128×192 pixels) for display on a segment of the system operator'sworkstation for the purpose of identifying picture orientation andspecifying aspect ratio.

As pointed out above, the present invention takes advantage of theinformation storage capability of the compact disc to incorporate,within a header file associated with each digitized picture, additionalpresentation control files for each stored picture for the purpose ofspecifying how the picture was captured on film and has beencorrespondingly digitized and stored on disc, so that, when played back,the picture will have an upright orientation and the correct aspectratio for the display device.

FIG. 22 diagrammatically illustrates a portion of the film strip 410that contains a plurality of successive picture frames 421 . . . 425, oneach of which a picture of an arrow 430 has been recorded. In frame 421,the arrow 430 has been recorded with the camera held by the photographerin its normal horizontal position. In frame 422, the arrow 730 has beenrecorded with the camera held by the photographer in its normal verticalposition, rotated counter-clockwise 90° relative to its normalhorizontal position. In frame 423, the arrow has been recorded with thecamera held by the photographer in its flipped or inverted horizontalvertical position, rotated 180° relative to its normal horizontalposition. In frame 424, the arrow has been recorded with the camera heldby the photographer in its flipped vertical position, rotated clockwise90° relative to its normal horizontal position. In frame 425, the arrowhas been recorded with the camera held by the photographer in its normalvertical position.

While not every strip of film will necessarily contain pictures at eachof the orientations shown in FIG. 22, a typical film strip can beexpected to include both horizontally-shot (whether upright or inverted)and vertically-shot (either right or left hand rotation) pictures. Inaccordance with the present invention, rather than physically rotateeither the film strip or the digitizing scanner, each picture on thefilm strip is scanned and digitized as though it were horizontallyoriented, irrespective of its actual orientation on the film. Thedigitized picture is then stored in the workstation's frame store, asis, and a lower resolution version of the digitized picture is thendisplayed on the display monitor of workstation 414, so that the picturemay be viewed by the operator. Then, as each picture is digitized andstored, the system operator, using a workstation input device (e.g., akeyboard or mouse) enters a set of `presentation` control codes that areincorporated within a presentation control file associated with eachrespective picture file.

The format of a presentation control file, such as header file 422Hassociated with picture data file 422D, into which normal verticalpicture frame 422 on film strip 410 has been digitized by scanner 412,is shown in FIG. 23 as comprising an M-bit orientation filed 431, anN-bit aspect ratio field 433 and a supplemental field 435, in whichadditional information, such as title, date, etc., may be inserted bythe operator in the course of formatting a digitized picture for storageon the disc. For the four possible picture orientations described aboveand depicted in FIG. 22, M=2 bits are required for the orientation field431. The code width of aspect ratio field 433 depends upon the number ofallowable picture aspect ratios; providing a three bit code width willaccommodate up to eight different aspect ratios. It should be observedthat the parameters and field formats given here are merely for purposesof illustration and are not to be considered limitative of theinvention. As in any data processing application, what is required isthat the actual coding structure and data format of the header field becapable of being read and interpreted by the underlying controlmechanism in the reproduction device. Rather than describe the codingdetails of that mechanism, the description to follow will set forth thearchitecture of the storage and retrieval mechanism and the manner inwhich it processes pictures having a variety of orientations and aspectratios.

FIG. 24 diagrammatically illustrates the signal processing architectureof a picture retrieval mechanism in accordance with the presentinvention, which may be incorporated in a commercially available digitaldata storage and retrieval device, such as a compact disc player, forsupplying video signals to an associated display device, such as a colortelevision monitor. As shown in the figure, data read from a disc 440 iscoupled over input bus 441 to a deformatter 442, which separates thecontrol data (the header field) from the (512×768) data. The header datais coupled over link 444 to a memory controller 446, while the picturedata is coupled over link 448 to a random access memory 450, whosestorage capacity corresponds to the size of the base resolution picture(512×768 pixels) stored on the disc.

Memory controller 446 may be incorporated as part of the CD player'smicrocontroller or may be a separate dedicated combinational logiccircuit driven by the microcontroller for controlling the generation ofread out address/clock signals which are supplied over respectiveaddress bus links 452 and 454 to a set of associated column and rowaddress counters 456 and 458, respectively, for controlling the rate andorder in which contents of memory 450 are accessed.

In particular, the "clock" signal lines allow counters 456 and 458 to beincremented (when the up/down signal is asserted) or decremented (whenthe up/down signal is not asserted), the "preset value" lines allow thecounters to be preset to the value indicated by these lines, and the"3:2 decimate" line instructs the counter 458 to skip over every thirdvalue (i.e., to provide addresses 0, 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, etc.), andthe "6:5 decimate" line instructs the counter 456 to skip every sixthvalue (i.e., to provide addresses 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13,etc.).

As pointed out previously, each field of picture data for a respectivedigitized picture is formatted as though the picture is a normalhorizontal picture and when downloaded from the disc into memory 450,the picture data is simply written directly into memory 450 in thisformat. The manner in which the picture is read out from memory 450 inaccordance with the contents of its associated header determines theorientation and display of the picture on an associated display device(TV monitor). When picture data is read out from memory 450, it iscoupled over link 460 to a border generator 462 which controllablysubstitutes for the pixel code values accessed from memory 450 analternate code value, representative of a prescribed border color (e.g.,black). For this purpose, border generator 462 preferably comprises amultiplexer switch 463 which connects the digital-to-analog converter470 to either receive the pixel code data values from memory 450, or toinstead receive a "border" code value representing a prescribed bordercolor. The position of multiplexer switch 463 is controlled by thecontrol signal on link 464 from memory controller 446. In this way,border generator 462 selectively injects `border` pixel values, asinstructed by memory controller 446, which fills in border regions ofthe 512×768 picture array, for the picture files where the aspect ratiocode within the header field specifies that the size and shape of thepicture being read out from memory should occupy less than the entiretyof the display. The resulting combined picture and border data is thenoutput to digital-to-analog converter 470 for application to a displaydevice, such as a color TV monitor 472, so that a reproduction of theoriginal 35 mm picture will be presented to the viewer.

Because conventional television monitors customarily employ a displayscreen having a 4:3 aspect ratio (and having 484 lines for an NTSCsystem), then, irrespective of the orientation of the 3:2 aspect ratiopicture stored in memory 450, the accessing of memory 450 will requiresome degree of cropping or decimation of the contents of the 512×768array. The manner in which memory controller 446 controls the generationof address signals and clocks out the contents of memory 450 for anumber of respectively different picture types for the example of anNTSC system television monitor is illustrated in FIGS. 25-29.

More particularly, FIG. 25 illustrates the overlay of a rectangularperimeter frame 480, the size and shape of which effectively correspondto a 484 row by 640 column pixel array that substantially matches the484×640 "square pixel" display capacity of an NTSC TV monitor,"centered" on a 512×768 pixel array represented by the contents ofmemory 450 for a horizontal normal picture, where the contents of thepicture correspond to an `upright` picture. Since, for either an upright(normal) or inverted horizontal picture, the size of the stored pictureexceeds the size of the NTSC display matrix, memory controller 446confines its column and row output addresses to a set of boundaries thatencompasses a 484×640 sub-matrix of addresses centered in frame 480within memory array 450.

In particular, frame 480 encompasses those pixels of the 512×768 pixelarray bounded by addresses Y=13, X=63; Y=13, X=702; Y=496, X=63; andy=496, X=702, where "Y" is the row address and "X" is the columnsaddress. Those data entries of memory 450 that fall outside of frame 480are not accessed for display, and the associated 484×640 NTSC displaywill display a normal horizontal picture of the pixels bounded by frame480. For an inverted horizontal picture, the same 484×640 frame ofaddresses is accessed, except that the order of read-out of thesuccessive 484 lines is reversed from that of a normal horizontalpicture. For the inverted horizontal picture, the pixel code valuestored at address Y=496, X=63 is the first (upper left) pixel of thevideo frame read from memory 450, whereas pixel Y=13, X=63 is the firstpixel read out from memory for a normal horizontal picture.

FIG. 26 illustrates the manner in which a vertical picture may berotated and slightly de-magnified by decimation.

FIG. 27 illustrates the manner in which the entire horizontal dimensionof the stored 512×768 picture may be displayed using a 484×640 pixelmatrix display by performing a "six-to-five" decimation of column androw addresses of a normal or inverted horizontal picture. Namely, memorycontroller 446 instructs column counter 456 and row counter 458 toprovide column and row output addresses such that every sixth pixel andevery sixth line is excluded, thereby performing a 5/6 demagnificationof the full horizontal picture to a 427×640 pixel sub-array. Again, inthe case of an inverted horizontal picture, the same 427×640 frame ofaddresses is accessed, except that the order of read-out of thesuccessive 427 lines is reversed from that of a normal horizontalpicture. Also, because of the decimation of the picture, the top andbottom of the picture are delimited by border regions 501 and 502 forwhich no data is accessed from memory 450. Therefore, upon read-out ofthe picture data from memory 450, border generator 462 supplements the427×640 sub-array of pixel values read out from memory 450 with bordercolor representative (e.g., black) pixel values to fill in regions 501and 502 of the displayed picture.

FIG. 28 illustrates the manner in which address decimation, similar tothat employed for the picture of FIG. 27, may be employed toautomatically display the entire horizontal dimension of a panoramicpicture, such as one having a 3:1 aspect ratio, as indicated by theaspect ratio code 433=001 in FIG. 23. Here, read-out of the storedpicture involves the same "six-to-five" decimation of the column and rowaddresses of memory 450, described above with reference to FIG. 27.Because of the 3:1 panoramic aspect ratio of the picture, however, onlythe middle 256 rows of picture data stored in memory 450 contain usefulpicture data. When reading out the panoramic picture from memory, using"six-to-five" decimation, border generator 462 supplements the 213×640sub-array of pixel values read out from memory 450 with border colorrepresentative (e.g., black) pixel values to fill in regions 511 and 512of the displayed picture. The aspect ratio code 433 shown in FIG. 23 canalso be utilized when making a thermal print via printer 424 in FIG. 21.In the case of a panoramic 3:1 aspect ratio picture, the printer canrecognize that only the middle half of the rows of the 3:2 aspect ratiostored data file contain useful picture data. The top and bottom rows ofthe stored data file will not be printed by thermal printer 424, thusconserving expensive print media, or allowing two 3:1 aspect ratiopictures to be printed next to one another in the same space normallyused to print a single 3:2 aspect ratio picture.

In addition to responding to control data from deformatter 442 basedupon header orientation and aspect ratio codes, memory controller 446may be coupled to respond to usergenerated control signals for definingthe limits of an auxiliary border to be injected onto the picture outputby border generator 462 via line 464, so that further cropping ofselected portions of a picture may be directed by the user, as shown byborder regions 521, 522, 523 and 524 in FIG. 29, in order to alter theaspect ratio of the displayed picture to provide a more pleasingcomposition.

As will be appreciated from the foregoing description, by digitizing andstoring film pictures in the manner they have been captured on film, thepresent invention is able to obviate the need to physically rotate thefilm scanner relative to the film for vertical pictures, therebysignificantly reducing the complexity and cost of the scanner andsimplifying the storage mechanism. Instead, the invention takesadvantage of the information storage capability of the compact discdatabase and incorporates an additional presentation control file, sothat pictures can be digitized and stored "as is". Since thepresentation control file contains orientation and aspect ratioinformation, the picture playback device will know how each picture hasbeen stored in the database. Subsequently, when the disc is insertedinto a playback device for driving an output display such as a color TVmonitor, the playback device is readily able to decode the headerinformation in the course of reading out the digitized picture, so thatthe picture will be displayed in an upright orientation and at thecorrect aspect ratio for the display.

While we have shown and described an embodiment in accordance with thepresent invention, it is to be understood that the same is not limitedthereto but is susceptible to numerous changes and modifications asknown to a person skilled in the art, and we therefore do not wish to belimited to the details shown and described herein but intend to coverall such changes and modifications as are obvious to one of ordinaryskill in the art.

I claim:
 1. A data base medium on which digitized picture information inthe form of a plurality of picture files is stored, wherein each of saidpicture files includes digital picture data and presentation controlinformation including information related to orientation for a picturegenerated from the respective digital picture data, said orientationbeing a respective one of a plurality of differentorientations,characterized in that said medium further comprises aseparate control file containing respective additional presentationcontrol information for additionally controlling the presentation ofpictures from the digital picture data in each of said respectivepicture files.